Electronic devices, such as notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones, portable compact disc (CD) players and the like, are often designed with flip-up covers into which electronic components are added. These electronic components must be electrically connected to the electronic components in the other half of the electronic device through a hinged interface. There may be as many as fifty signals or more that are required to be interconnected between these halves.
Prior art electronic devices interconnect the electronic components in the halves by flexible circuits that are routed through the hinge and mated to the printed wiring boards (PWBs) or displays on the opposite half. These flex circuits are expensive, are difficult to install in the hinge and require manual labor, and have reliability issues. The hinge and the interconnect therethrough have one of the highest reliability problems for these types of electronic devices.
Often, if the hinge and/or flex circuit fails, the entire device is disposed of instead of replacing the damaged components. As color displays are being used in more electronic devices, the replacement of the entire electronic device is not cost effective.
The present invention provides a hinge interconnect that provides a solution to these problems. Other features and advantages will become apparent upon reading the attached description of the invention, in combination with a study of the drawings.